Mutya ng Ibalong 2010

As promised! I stumbled upon some shoots of the pageant night  on Facebook.

Here's an album of the Mutya ng Ibalong 2010 candidates in their swimwear by Patrick Marius

Here is an update on the pageant. The crown was awarded to Angelica Romero of Naga city as the Mutya ng Ibalong 2010. Winners list on the link.

For the Ibalong Cultural Street Presentation, please go to our Facebook fan page. Thank you.

Friends of Mind

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butterfly or firefly, be free to roam around,
whether you come in the warmth and brightness of midday,
or in the cold stark darkness of midnight,
delight with me in sweetness and light.

i cultivate my garden, from grass to flowers, the trees that shade,
to those from which fruits, leaves, and barks fall down, which scents and flavors
may or may not all please your choosy buds, and decorate the lawn
with play things and marvels that by walking in the forests are found.

all beauty and meaning are however well-contained,
kept and saved in a special place for revelry and rest,
when all the day is spent to live, for the sake of friends
who are the most beautiful enemies of each one's poetic sense.
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As Emerson did write, friends indeed are the most beautiful enemies and our ideas often sound better when they tell them to us. The title of the post was inspired by the following lines from Toni Morrison:

"She is a friend of mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am,
she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.
It's good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind."

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"The Protégé"

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When the student is ready, the teacher arrives.

I await for my teacher's arrival.

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—Margarita, "The Protégé". (2006)

let me alone by the beach tonight

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Let me alone by the beach tonight

as i watch every wave come to calm.

(a verse from a week and two years ago)

"The Creed"

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The work of someone's heart

should never be criticized

using somebody else's mind.

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–Enigma, "The Creed" (2003)

My Redemption

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My heart is out in the sun today!

My friends, do not fret for me or worry a bit...

it only shines more vibrantly red as i take each forward step;

it will not wilt for it rocks to the beat—

the classic sounds, my younger dreams—

and of those, if you have not yet known or heard,

perhaps, you can only guess why i wrote what you just read,

but let me tell you something about it anyway:

Tomorrow, I will redeem my pledge.
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An Mga Aninipot sa Busay

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One night in Busay

there was an outage of power supply

right in front of Bobot's house

lurked fireflies with flickering lights

Busay is a barangay just a few meters ahead of the entrance to Cagsaua Ruins,
the famous tourist spot at the foot of Mount Mayon
which features the remnant bell tower of the stone church
that got all buried during the 1814 eruption of the volcano.

This verse is a pensive recollection of a night when
friends of the pen leisurely gathered at Bobot's residence.

The renounced writers of bicol region.

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Today’s post is sparked by a look-through in the search words that lead visitors to our blog. For the list of renowned writers in the Bicol Region, follow the link at the end of this post.

Is what you say or write definitely right?

Sir Francis Bacon wrote in his essay, Of Studies that “writing maketh an exact man”.

Perhaps, this is one of the most often quoted phrases of all time, and for English Majors, this quickly translates for us, the necessity of correct grammar and diction in every written material—indicating thereby that what we write defines us.

In formal writing, we have grammar and diction as fundamental considerations in pulling together coherent and meaningful expressions of ourselves. In linguistics, we describe grammar as a system of rules and principles in speaking and writing a language with regards to the internal structure of words (morphology), the use of words in the construction of phrases and sentences (syntax), and the relationship between words, phrases or any other allowable constraint and their actual meaning (semantics), and diction, as the choice of words especially with regard to correctness, clearness, or effectiveness of their application to the idea or situation.

Of Malapropisms and Improprieties

A well-respected professor in the Study of Critical and Thinking Skills* back at the university when we were still freshmen students often would tell us how it is a grave sin for an English major to be constantly speaking and writing with incorrect grammar and diction. Learning so much from her ways, I have somehow acquired a certain trait of hers: incorrect grammar and diction sores my eyes and rubs my ears whenever I read or hear them.

But then I have my own flaws as a writer and from where I began with my studies of correct English, grammar was not much of a problem, but diction somehow was. Learning poetry before all other forms of literary works, I have entreated poetic license to excuse myself from being kept within the constraints of structure and the norms through which language is deemed correct, and with much aid out of knowing and understanding literary devices and techniques as well as the methods and approaches of critical study and appreciation, I am able to justify my every ink’s spilling of words with utter freedom.

When I was in high school, I discovered one flaw in my earliest works: an unconscious substitution of words in sentences which definitely was not a legitimate or valid application of any known literary device or technique, but seemed correct by the sounds of it as they were written or spoken.

This error is quite common and can pass by almost unnoticed for people whose eyes or ears have not trained much in the rigors of language or are not that exposed in an environment where the language is constantly being used. Being engaged seriously in the studies of language through our courses in the university and in my own private ramblings in the library and over the web, I was able to get past this error and learn not to abuse the verities of poetic license.

The RENOUNCED writers of Bicol region

This morning, as I looked through the search words of our visitors, I am well reminded of this language learning experience. The live traffic feed listed this as one of the most recent updates:

Makati, Manila arrived from google.com.ph on "Musings of the Midnight Writer: 25th National Youth Pilgrimage - Dagupan, Pangasinan - April 7-13, 2010" by searching for renounced writers of bicol region.

Despite that I have been involved with SEO works for the past two years, I have always posted randomly on this blog and have not cared much about my page rank or keyword optimization. However, it awakened my senses at reading the phrase, “renounced writers”.

Wikipedia provides the following insight about this kind of word misuse:

MALAPROPISM (MAL-a-prop-izm)

A type of solecism, the mistaken substitution of one word for another that sounds similar, generally with humorous effect, as in "arduous romance" for "ardent romance." The term is named for the character, Mrs. Malaprop, in Richard Sheridan's play, The Rivals, who made frequent misapplications of words….

Looking it up on Google, we find the following:

renounce /ri'nouns/

Verb: re·nounced, re·nounc·ing, re·nounc·es. v.tr. 1. To give up (a title, for example), especially by formal announcement. See Synonyms at relinquish. ...

www.thefreedictionary.com/renounced

The more appropriate word would have been:

re·nowned /ri'nound/

Adjective: Known or talked about by many people; famous.

Dictionary.com

Just imagine if your name is listed as a renounced writer in this blog! You will probably feel sad. But then, with understanding of the mechanics of language, you can just laugh your heart out.

This is not to make fun of our guest or to pass insult to those who are committing malapropisms--I used to and I might be committing the same error at being in haste to finish this post....

The thing is, because the search phrase,“writers of the bicol region”, is a related phrase for “Bicol writer”, a popular post label, our guest arrived sometime around 13 hours and 25 mins ago....as with most occurrences of malapropism--with just one word mistaken in a phrase or sentence--it is a readily identifiable linguistic problem, but somehow, it can get your point across without getting apprehended by a traffic enforcer or getting ticketed for the trouble. Nifty little tricky thing.

This is a call to be concerned, about how we deliver our thoughts to others, and to keep ourselves in check that we are saying things the right way. It is also a response to the need to be concerned about others. Let us take the initiative to learn so that we may stand corrected--that is, in the use of our languages in aspects of grammar and diction in particular, and in our ways of life in general.

Jump to link for the list of renowned writers in the Bicol region

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*is my recollection right? please correct me if im wrong. =)

pagranga hale sa sarong tagahanga

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enot sa gabos ako sarong tagahanga
kun bako sa mga primerong nagraranga

tataramon na sadiri minsan nauk'dan
tibaad dae man nareparo an kahalagahan

minsan man ingles ang kinatu'dan
enot sa gabos ako sarong tagahanga

kan tataramon na iyo sana an makakahulit kan kultura
asin arte kan sa uro-aldaw na tigsik buda rawitdawit

na maski sa paglibot-libot o pakikipagdiskurso sa tawo
man o libro, dae nahagilapan kan mga terminong sakto.

kung kaya siring sa mga nagsusulong
ako man kaiba an iba pang bagong usbong

minaranga asin minaipus-ipos na sa guiraray man
logod manu'dan ang matamang pagtaram

kan sadiring tataramon sa dagang kinamundagan
guiraray ipagbalangibog, gamiton sa pagsurat, pagtaram
ngani mabuhay an lingguahe na sarong dakulang tanda
kan kulturang may tunay na progreso, padagos
pinag-oorgullo asin kinamomo'tan.

"pagkasulnop, minabanggui, rumdumon ang mga agi-agi".

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ini sarong katukduan

sa paagi ni mamu liloy:



mag muni-muni bago mag idlip...

inspeksyuna an saimung sadiri.

anu daw kun nagi kan marhay,

kun ika magturog na dae nang bungkaras,

ika daw sa kaogmahan na daeng

kasagkoran makakaheras?

Inscriptions at the Touchstone

    Click on the image to view the poem =D

IBALONG FESTIVAL 2010: SHOWCASING BICOL ARTS AND FUN

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Bicol Culture and Arts is blessed with numerous cultural aspects sprinkled with the various artistic products of the Bicolano minds. Culture and arts are interwoven together resulting with a splendid display of prowess. These brilliant minds stem from countless years of molded knowledge and experience overflowing with wisdom and intelligence. That’s why they came up with  an idea to revive and celebrate the Bicolano heritage in the form of the Ibalong Festival.

The Ibalong Festival 2010 is a month-long celebration which will be held this month of October at Legazpi City. It is renowned among the non religious festivals in Bicol Region with more colorful events such as  Cultural Street Presentation, Art Exhibit, and Mutya ng Ibalong. The dates include the city patron, St. Raphael Archangel’s Feast Day, making the celebration even more colorful and eventful.

Jump to the schedule of Mutya ng Ibalong 2010 and other festival activities 

The city’s main thoroughfare is turned into a grandiose strip of stage filled with a variety of cultural street dancing performances along with the presence of a thick border of spectators who eagerly watch the much awaited Cultural Street Presentation. Ibalong Festival 2010 contingents coming from the different parts of the Bicol Region portray their choreographed tribal dances and acts imitating the ancient heroes, villains and beasts that once again come to life in this year’s event, with their colorful costumes made out of indigenous materials like abaca fibers, bamboo shingles, etc.

Artes Bicol Express, a group of Bicolano Artists display some of their works at the 3rd Floor of Pacific Mall Legazpi in their annual Ibalong art exhibit of original pieces like: “Musikero”, an acrylic on canvas by Miguel Zuñiga; “Violet”, oil on canvas by Paul Durrant; “The Anti Faker”, mixed media on canvas by Troy Carretas; “Diwata”, a hand-built stoneware medium by Maricel Magdamit and other original pieces painted by local artists.

Spoiler photos of ABX artworks here.

Young and beautiful ladies from all over the region will also be competing for this year’s much-coveted title Mutya ng Ibalong 2010. It is not only the artworks on display, but also the alluring beauty of the Bicolanas.

The other noteworthy events are the 21-kilometer Mayon Trail Run that aims to enhance our concern on environmental issues, the Bicol Food Festival that showcases the native delicacies in Albay, the Golf Tournament for the sports fanatics, and many more!

Ibalong Festival 2010 welcomes guests and participants, as the people of Albay look forward to the opportunity to impart warmth and goodwill and to promote cultural awareness to all people who want to witness and be part of this special cultural event.

//by FB

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Looking for info about the legend and the author of the Ibalong Epic? Please check Dr. Merito Espinas on Facebook.


Want the most recent update on the search for Mutya ng Ibalong 2010? Please follow this link.


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